Amelia
by Moe-the-Insomniac
Summary: Working title. A perfect life can shatter within the world you are so use too. Carter saw fatherhood coming, just not like this.
1. Chapter One

Amelia  
  
Authors Note- I know in the actual show, Kem is having a boy, but in this story, it's twins. Hey, they wouldn't call it fan fiction if it was identical to the original.  
  
Disclaimer- Have the things they say in ER I don't understand, thus, I don't own anything  
  
Chapter One  
  
Carter woke in the early morning to the belief that he was suffocation. He lifted his hands to his face and removed Muschko. After placing the cat on the floor, he glanced to the other side of the bed. Even with morning blurred vision, he knew he was alone.  
  
His only day off, and he was dragging himself out of bed before nine in the morning. From the railing overlooking the front hall below, he saw a woman sliding back and forth across the tiles. She was wearing his wool socks.  
  
The woman had just taken another running start when he stepped off the staircase, catching her in his open arms. She began laughing hard enough that the two slid to the floor.  
  
" I really regret showing you that one".  
  
Kem managed to momentarily catch her breath, " you've got me addicted, I can't help it anymore".  
  
Carter placed a hand gently over her swollen stomach, " I've seen so many pregnant women over the years, and was always worried for them. Now it's a woman I love with my children, I'm terrified to say the least".  
  
She rested her hand over his, wearing a reassuring smile, " you have nothing to fear. As long as the babies are in me, they're safe. Now, when they come out, that may be a different story".  
  
He suddenly gazed at their hands with amazement, feeling a firm kick from the other side, " was that the girl or the boy?".  
  
" Oh god" Kem rose to a standing position, him following, " with the way these two flip flop, I'm just glad they're still in the uterus. But oh" her grin grew a tiny bit, " I think that was Amelia".  
  
He laughed, " Amelia? I go to work for a few hours and they have names already?".  
  
" I'm reading a novel and the character named Amelia is a strong and independent heroine, and that's what I want her to be like".  
  
Carter kissed the top of her head, " Amelia it is, in fact I love it. And you" he looked down at her stomach as though talking to the baby boy, " may have to wait a few more months until we get one for you".  
  
Kem suddenly gasped, " you're right! We've only got three months! Three months, dammit John, we haven't even started on the nursery!".  
  
" Whoa, hey, it's okay. That's still a lot of time, they won't come until we're ready, apparently, but that may be a myth" one he would believe, and he was a doctor.  
  
" Oh that's reassuring. Luka told me you had nightmares about being a father, now at this rate, they'll never get out".  
  
He felt his eyes widen, " I'm not- that scared.anymore".  
  
She seemed to have a soft smile that could cure anything faster than he could write a prescription note, " there's nothing to be ashamed of John, I'd be worried if you weren't the least bit scared. Especially since you're getting two for the price of one" she wrapped her arms around him, getting as close as possible with her stomach, " I'm going to go get us some tea, alright?".  
  
" Okay" he nodded, " I'll be right back".  
  
Fatherhood, or the mere idea of it, was terrifying, more than he was allowing Kem to know. When she first announced she was pregnant, there wasn't any full realization, the shock had not set in yet. But he nearly passed out during a shift after hearing it was twins.  
  
Twins, two of them. They found out soon afterwards that it was one of each, both a boy and a girl, a son and a daughter. He found it amusing how Kem said it was a ' two for one deal', and they had not even planned for one of them. But, he had her, which seemed to make everything in life much easier.  
  
She was the one who desperately feared her children would not have a place to sleep, but she just didn't know Carter as well as she thought- yet. The first door at the top of the staircase had remained lock since the day of their return from Africa. Though it was used for whatever random odds and ends they collected for the arrivals, but Kem never actually went in there. Especially in the last month, when he would spend sleeping hours on end transforming an old and boring guest room into a nursery made for two. 


	2. Chapter Two

Amelia  
  
Authors Note- Okay, so no one likes Kem, but she's the one with Carter..for right now. Also, I know she got pregnant around November, but in here, it's almost Christmas. And of course, thank you for the reviews!  
  
Chapter Two  
  
" It's you're first day off in over a month, why are you going in?" Kem watched Carter slip on his jacket.  
  
He helped her into hers, " I'm just picking up a file, it'll take two minutes".  
  
She groaned, " of course that's how it always starts, then there will be some accident and you'll have no choice but to stay".  
  
" I knew you'd become one of us soon enough".  
  
Kem shrugged, " I'm not saying I don't want you to be helping others. And I'm not trying to be selfish, but I do want some time with you".  
  
He smirked, " midnight feedings will become our bonding time.all four of us".  
  
As they walked out the door into a chilly December day, Kem wanted to tell him about a strange feeling that rested in the pit of her stomach, one that had nothing to do with the twins. He never seemed to have faith in that kind of thing, and despite the strength in this one, she did not say a word.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Carter ran through the automatic doors and slid across the tiles before crashing into the front desk. Frank glared at him, and he smirked in return. He then dashed into the lounge and headed towards the manila folder that was on top of the fridge. Luka had been standing there, watching him run as though his bum was on fire.  
  
" What's that?".  
  
Luka's mere question caused Carter to jump, spilling the folders contents onto the floor.  
  
" Nothing" Carter stuttered, dropping to his knees and began collecting papers, " nothing at all".  
  
Luka managed to grab one of the stray sheets before Carter could. He read from the internet heading at the top of the page, " double the fun, a guide to newborn twins".  
  
Carter froze, looking slightly embarrassed, " it's, well, its exactly what it looks like, cant lie about this one".  
  
He laughed, a little bit, " this is the most adorable thing I've ever seen".  
  
" Thank you?".  
  
" No really, it is" he returned the paper, " does Kem know?".  
  
Carter shook his head, reorganizing the folder, " it's for flashlight reading in the closet she probably hasn't found yet".  
  
" John, it comes naturally. The second my daughters came home, I knew what to do. As long as you have Kem, twins will be great".  
  
He sighed, " everyone makes it sound like Kem will run everything, and I'm worthless. Because that's what I will be, worthless. I am not capable of raising one child, let alone two".  
  
Before Luka could even attempt a response, one of the med students appeared in the doorway, announcing that there had been a car accident in the parking lot, and everyone was desperately needed.  
  
A car accident- the parking lot. That's where Kem was waiting. With hardly that thought, Carter beat Luka out the door and to the main desk. Two stretchers were being wheeled by, each with a bloodied victim. But they weren't Kem, and he had a brief sigh of relief.thinking she was alright.  
  
Until-  
  
" We've got another one!".  
  
His own time stopped all around, it all became a blur. He became paralyzed when he saw Kem- half conscious on the paramedics newest stretcher to come through the entrance. Her clothing, her hair, everything was drenched in blood- her blood.  
  
" What happened?!" maybe that voice was his, maybe it wasn't, he couldn't be sure.  
  
One of the paramedics caught his eyes, " three cars slid on the ice near the back lot, the first one hit her".  
  
Hyperventilation got the better of him, panting caused his words to hardly make it out clear enough for anyone to understand, " she's pregnant, you've got to help her". He finally found himself in the position where he was the one with the desperate pleads to save someone.  
  
" How many months is she?!".  
  
" Six months!".  
  
Then Luka yelled, " exam three is open!".  
  
Like the years in the past, something triggered in Carter's mind so that he automatically ran to that very spot, not wanting to let her out of his sight for a second. But she couldn't see him, she was unconscious and didn't even know what was going on. All he wanted was to be able to get to her, to help her, but just like that.he was stopped at the door.  
  
" You can't go in there" Weaver was the one holding him back.  
  
He never liked her, but that grudge was easily beginning to thicken, " no, I have-".  
  
" The hospital permits you from working with a spouse".  
  
But he wasn't married to Kem, not yet at least. However, when the doors closed, it was like a permanent force field holding him back. He wasn't allowed in there, and there wasn't any time to argue, to him it'd only make things worse. And now, he couldn't even see her, the crowd of other doctors were in the way. Now he knew what it felt like for other people.  
  
His mind was weak, his breath was short, and now his balance was uneasy. Carter felt his eyes roll into the back of his head, immediately before fainting. 


End file.
